Housing
The hardest practical problem after release, and the one with the fewest good answers.
The approval problem
Your residence has to be approved before you go to it. That means the address work happens months in advance, and it means the people at that address have to agree to it and may be visited.
If you are going to family, have that conversation early and specifically. "You can stay with us" is not the same as "yes, a federal officer can come to my house unannounced."
The barriers
- Most large property management companies screen for criminal history and deny on it;
- federally subsidized housing has its own restrictions, and some are absolute;
- a deposit and first month's rent is a substantial sum for someone who left with a few hundred dollars;
- and no rental history for the past several years is its own problem, independent of the conviction.
What actually works
- Private individual landlords rather than management companies — the same principle as small employers, which is that you are talking to a human being who can make a decision;
- disclosing upfront rather than being screened out, for the same reason it works in job hunting;
- offering a larger deposit or a co-signer if you can;
- reentry housing organizations, which vary wildly in quality but exist in most metros;
- and staying with family longer than you want to, which is unglamorous and is what most people actually do.
Work
Disclose early, to the decision maker, in plain language. Target small companies. Own it on paper before Google does.
These pages cover the general rules. Your situation has details they don't. Email me a question. Answers are free, and "you don't need to pay anyone for this" is my most common answer.
I answer in the order received, usually within a couple of days. I have a day job. If your situation genuinely needs more than an email, I take a limited number of consults, so say so and we'll work it out.
Somebody else is counting down to the same door. Pass it on.